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AWelfare
Plan
With a Heart!
by
Clayton Steep
There is a better way! Why has no nation yet followed it?
W
HAT
nation does not
have to wrestle with
the monumental
challenges of adequately pro–
viding for its needy?
Yet today's welfare pro–
grams, as a whole, have not ade–
quately solved the immense
problems they were designed to
sol
ve.
Despite the best intentions,
bureaucratic inefficiency exists.
Politics prevail. Standards are not
always applied fairly. Then there is
the problem of weeding out the
cheaters. Sometimes insufficient
funds plague the system.
And, what is perhaps most tragic
of all, large numbers of the poor to
whom aid is given tend to stay poor.
lt's a vicious cycle.
Is there any way out?
Where t he Plan ls Found
Though it has been too often over–
looked, there is a plan that would
resolve the problem of taking care of
the needy.
It
would alleviate the
g r eat tax burdens now being
imposed on society for the care of
the poor, the unemployed and the
elderly. It would also provide tbe
means for most of them to improve
tbeir lot in life and eventually
become self-sufficient. Even beyond
the leve! of the individual in need,
the adoption of tbis plan would go so
far as to nullify tbe difference
between have and have-not nations!
26
Where is sueh a plan? Why
hasn't it been adopted?
The
Plain Truth
magazine has
pointed out for 50 years where such
a plan is revealed.
lt
is, in fact,
revealed knowledge
that govern–
ments need to know and could not
otherwise discover for themselves.
I t answers the problems of all man–
kind.
It
is found in that book we
call tbe Holy Bible. This revealed
knowledge would salve the prob–
lems of caring for tbe poor, the
unemployed, tbe disadvantaged.
The plan is tbere, given in detail.
Almigbty God once revealed bis
economic and social plan to a whole
nation- ancient Israel. But most of
tbe people didn't listen. The Creator
God promised tbe Israelites tbat if
they would follow bis plan, there
would come a time wben tbere
would be "no poor among you; for
the Lord will greatly bless you in tbe
land which the Lord your God is giv–
ing you to possess as an inheri–
tance- only if [and here is the
"if'
clause in the contract] you carefully
obey tbe voice of the Lord your God,
to observe witb care all these com–
mandments wbich 1 command you
today" (Deut. 15:4-5, Revised
Authorized Version throughout).
Great national prosperity would
result, "for the Lord your God will
bless you j ust as He promised you;
you sbalJ Jend to many nations, but
you sball not borrow" (verse 6).
No need to borrow? That's right,
because they would be a have natíon.
The God to whom all wealth belongs
would see to it. This is one of the
great differences between God's
plan for taking care of the needy and
all bumanly devised social welfare
programs: God's plan alone involves
his specific care to ensure the plan
will work.
Still, God knew in advance that
ancient Israel as a whole would not
keep his laws. Therefore bis servant
Moses predicted, as related in verse
11: "tbe poor will never cease from
the Iand."
Whose Responsibility?
It
is not primarily a responsibility
of big government to care for the
needy, tbe unemployed, the elderly.
It is rather an individual responsi–
bility. Mases and Jesus taught forc–
ibly that it is the individual's duty
to help the needy (Matt. 25:34-
46).
Look around you. Have today's
humanly devised programs, many
of whích are teetering on the edge
of bankruptcy, really solved the
problems of poverty? Well in–
tended they may be. Tbe best man
can do. But see, now, God's way of
handling the situation:
"And if one of your brethren [of
your nation living in your area]
becomes poor, and falls into pover–
ty among you...." T his describes
many individuals in today's eco–
nomically troubled times.
What does God say to do in such
cases? Direct the poor person to
the nearest government agency
where he or she might qualify for a
The PLAIN TRUTH